


weary the weight of the sun

by junxouji



Series: Weary the Weight of the Sun [4]
Category: EXO (Band), K-pop, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Eventual Smut, M/M, Mecha, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Other, Past Relationship(s), Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Polygamy, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-18 17:12:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7323757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junxouji/pseuds/junxouji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyungsoo, in fact, is not losing this mind. Rather it is gradually all coming back to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. i. sleep walker

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for the exordium 2016 but unfortunately due to real life circumstances I wasn't going to be able to reasonably meet the deadline. Instead of waiting until next year to try again– I decided to post it now since it's already a considerable length. Please realize this is a polyamorous friendly space fic. If that's not your thing then you shouldn't read. There is sciencey stuff I made up completely as well. This fic is my baby so please be gentle with it. Also, thank you to Gine for putting up with me and giving REALLY great feedback. She even drew some cool fanart but I have to get permission to share it first. Thanks to E.K. for beta-ing this mess and making everything flow nicer. There are a few other shoutouts I probably owe but they are coming up blank right now. Just THANKS for everyone who continues to support me. I really, really couldn't find the confidence to post my work without you all.

“ this is God's country. but the devil's a tenant, and everyone's paying his rent.  ”

— enter: the fallen, the  falling , v.g 

 

 

* * *

 

 

His eyes travel across the expanding black horizon –  no night and certainly  no day – stuck in a daze of confusion as his breath fogged the visor of his dive suit. Somewhere he had been stuck on this continuous pendulum drifting in and out of subspace.

 

Losing one's self is very easy in space. There is an endless galaxy before him; he only has the low huffs of his breath to accompany him out here, in the fading black sea sprinkled with stars that he no longer has any power to memorize. The universe before him is cruel and unforgiving - never promising him that he may escape in one piece.

 

It’s only the static of his radio that brings Do Kyungsoo out of his incoherent state:

 

“Headquarters to Warbird Galactica, I repeat – HQ TO WARBIRD GALACTICA. Operational systems are down, please state your position.”

 

The message breaks the fog of confusion clouding his mind. Kyungsoo’s eyes fully open, his breath uneven as he leans forward to press the receiver. Hoarse and weak, he says, “This is Warbird. We copy -  I  copy.” It only dawns on him  then, that something isn't right. His mind is clouded and as his eyes focus he realizes there is the flash of ominous red in the cockpit of the Guardian signaling non-operational systems. Essentially, he’s floating around in a heavy piece of metal with no ability to save himself. “I'm alone . I'm not sure where the other Guardians are. I'm on the edge of the Messier Galaxy.”

 

There has never been a feeling worse than the deathly fear of being alone. Space was always dark and draws out a unique kind of loneliness from the hidden crevices of Kyungsoo’s mind - it’s impossible to escape from, he realizes, with the source of those anxieties  all around him.  Where is his crew ?  Why is he alone ? His fingers clutch in the single seat pod of the mecha eyes closing as he struggles to calm his heart.

 

“Stand by pilot, two Guardians are on their way to transport you to New Earth.” The voice responds as Kyungsoo struggles to grip his swaying mind eyes reopening.

 

It’s odd to not be able to recall the events that lead him to be floating around aimlessly in the cockpit of the nonfunctioning guardian. The impact indicators are buzzing loudly as Kyungsoo’s eyes finally focus on the ship’s mainframe. Written in the grainy blue and green flickering code is the telltale of the damages done to Warbird. His mind tries to wrap around the series of occurrences that landed him here to this moment but it’s elusive, slipping through the web of his thoughts, his fingers unable to grab onto the thread of his memories to follow it all back to the source. Instead, they grip onto his head as it  thunders in defiance.  Kyungsoo cannot help but feel like he’s trapped in some spider web of deception. But, instead of being devoured right away he’s merely being observed.

 

Staring at the ship around him, something akin to misery clutches in his chest. Once polished and organized now lays sparking electrical wires ripped from the walls, chucks of the room smashed into crumbles, and the low hum of the ceiling giving in. His ship, his home, and testament to is career was barely hanging on by a thread. 

 

He remembers, vaguely, being assigned to gathering resources from this far in the galaxy. But something had to be askew for Kyungsoo to be  this off course, with no signs of the other guardians he had went with. 

 

It takes what feels like an eternity stretched out in the small cockpit, until the fading sensors indicate an incoming vessel in a weak alarm that sounds much like how Kyungsoo feels: the once deafening screech now nothing more than a muffled hum. It’s the  last desperate cry of a once great machine.

 

“Captain Do, this is is pilot Kim Minseok. We have come to take you back to Zion.” There is a long pause in the radio frequency, static following until the reassuring voice speaks again. “Requesting permission to board  Warbird .”

 

Kyungsoo presses the input microphone and speaks hoarsely, in a voice that sounds like a ghastly hallowed version of his own making him wonder just  how long had he been unconscious. “Flight systems are down.” Kyungsoo says. For the first time he feels something other than numbness, and to his horror it's  pain - etched in his side as he looks down at his dive suit. Red stains the white guardian issued suit. It explains why he had felt like death, at least - because he hadn't just been figuratively floating around dying. “I'm injured and can not move. Request to board granted.”

 

He lifts the switch that opens the main gate’s of the mecha ship. No sooner does he, than the unfamiliar guardian latches an air tight funnel to the gate so the soldiers can travel easily from their vessel to his own.

 

Kyungsoo undoes his fastening and tries to move, but a wave of pain sends him back down fighting off nausea. He hears their clattering feet before he sees the three men shuffling in the cockpit. They are dressed like he is: pristine white body suits equipped with weather control functions and body stabilization techniques - the little red symbol of their mothership Zion planted on their breasts with a cursive  Z . Only they look out of place in the disaster ridden cockpit with loose wires sticking out and the metal frame torn apart.

 

One is tall and lean, almost reaching the roof of the tiny cockpit as his dive suit struggles to fit snugly around his lanky form and his smile is much too bright. It makes Kyungsoo's headache return with a vehemence as he turns away from that face almost instantly. The next is much shorter and stocky - the type of figure that makes him suitable for flying a guardian. Kyungsoo might have imagined him being much younger than he probably was if not for the sheer determination in his eyes. The last is also tall but not nearly as tall as the first with such dark eyes Kyungsoo wonders if they are black? Something about  him in particular does not settle well with Kyungsoo. Anxiety lodges itself securely in his throat as he stretches his hands out as if to grab the man but when he tries to move he crumples in pain. His side wound burns, adrenalin wearing off, leaving nothing behind but the intensity of the fire raging on the insides of his body. His mind becomes debilitated in the matter of seconds - it’s a mix of confusion and panic as he hears them speaking to him but unable to distinguish the words in the white noise. 

 

He is digging through his memories, pushing back the fog surrounding him, trying to grasp that eluding light just beyond his reach. The further Kyungsoo reaches, the further it seems to recede leaving only hysteria in it’s wake:

 

Kyungsoo is being carefully lifted and when his head rolls back he spies the warm brown eyes. It sparks his rampant humming bird heart to rattle in it’s cage.  The laugher on the ship is quiet but he can hear Kai’s deep voice rumbling from the hall. Kyungsoo peeks his head in to see the youngest guardian leaning against Luhan and Yifan trying to schmooze his way out of the night shift. Kyungsoo’s lips quirk upwards in amusement because Yifan looks close to cracking under the twinkle of his bright brown eyes. Kyungsoo’s hands clench at his suit tightly because Kyungsoo wouldn’t ever forget those eyes. The same eyes that had cried before him and crinkled upwards in joy.  Kai smiled when he saw Kyungsoo peeking in the cockpit. His smile turned deviant as he smirked some wiggling his finger for Kyungsoo to enter. Kyungsoo scoffs a little and turns on his heels. “Get back to work Kai.” He says firmly before making his rounds to check up on Zitao to ensure the other troublemaker wasn’t getting himself into trouble.

 

“Kai.” He breathes out. It is only one syllable but it erupts a dam of emotions in his chest. Joy, relief, and hope - something he had not bothered to even contemplate feeling. “Kai! Where are the others? Tao, Luhan and Yifan? Are they okay? What  happened  to me? Who attacked my guardian?” The rational part of his mind does not question  why his Kai might be coming from another ship.

 

The young bright eyed male freezes hands quivering slightly as he stares somewhat unsure. “Excuse me?” He asks, the same trembly deep voice that had always melted it’s way onto Kyungsoo’s soft side. “I don’t know you.”

 

Kyungsoo frowns as he’s hoisted by him and the other tall male since he can barely stand on his own. He does not miss the look of sympathy from their leader, the pilot Minseok presumably, as Kyungsoo stares. “ No, you know me Kai. I’m your commanding officer! We went through flight training together! It was me, you, Tao, Luhan, and Yifan. We flew in the same regiment. You  have to know what happened to us.”

 

“You’re confused. My name isn’t Kai. It’s Kim Jongin. I am apart of the guardian Caduceus - I surely would remember being apart of Warbird next to it’s legendary captain. You must have bumped your head.” His smile is polite though somewhat strained but overall indifferent. He can feel the tension of the three men around him. They are all tentatively watching him all quietly ready to tranquilize him if he becomes unstable from this much exposure alone in space.

 

Kyungsoo wasn’t  crazy but he could not believe it. “Why are you lying? Kai, you  know me. You know me, damn it! Where are my friends?  Where are they ?”

 

“Kyungsoo, you have been missing along with your crewmates for thirty cycles. Whatever that is left to be found you have been floating around in it. I’m sorry but your crewmates have not been located and their guardians reduced to dust - it is not likely they are alive.” It is Minseok who speaks this time. He gestures for the two men to carry Kyungsoo to their ship so they can get going and hastily get him to the nearest doctor to stitch up that wound.  Clearly blood loss was getting to his head.

 

“ No ,” He whispers.  No . In no scenario was he suppose to lose them. They were not just his friends or people he entrusted with his life on a regular basis but they were his  family . Why did no one beleive him? Why did they all give him that pitying look as if he was going insane? He could not remember anything and his crew were missing - but he was  not crazy! Jongin had to be his  Kai . They looked identical in every way. Something was not right here. He could feel it looming over him. Luhan, Tao, and Yifan could  not be dead. They would not be careless or thoughtless enough to put themselves in a dangerous situation. What type of force existed in this universe that could not only attack them but successfully so? They had been an experience five-man ship - one of the best. It would have taken a fleet of guardians to get them down.

 

Kyungsoo jerks from their grip and grabs Jongin’s hand. Turning it over in his hand he stares pointedly at the palm of his hand. A tiny silver scar runs from his thumb to his wrist -  exactly how he remembers it. Kai had run his hand into a gear in the ship’s engine room when they had passed through an asteroid belt. He remembers because Tao had overdramatized the entire thing insisting that Kai might lose his entire hand. “Where did you get this?” Kyungsoo demands eyes meeting the younger’s with odd defiance. “And why are you lying to me?”

 

Jongin pulls his hand away, eyes darting to his superior officer before back to Kyungsoo. “I tripped and fell in flight. I promise you, sir, I am not deceiving you. You really have confused me with someone else. You commanded a four person ship. The only people aboard that ship were Lu Han, Huang Zitao, and Wu Yifan. No  Kai ever existed. You can check the database files.” He says pointedly. “Now, if you’re not careful  sir it would be a shame to see such a decorated and prestigious captain humiliated by a fit of confusion, right?”

 

Kyungsoo stiffens because there is no denying the undertones of his threat. “Officer are you threatening me?” He snaps, wondering where he could get the audacity. He  was Kai - that Kyungsoo was sure as the universe’s existence. It was just a matter of why he was lying and not being honest with him. Why would Kai’s existence disappear so suddenly and be replaced with this Jongin?

 

“I would never dare sir. I am only looking out for someone I’ve admired for so long. You wouldn’t want people to think you’ve lost it while missing.” Jongin says and his smile returns. “Now why don’t we get you to the doc? He’s probably fretting away with how long it’s taken us to extract you.”

 

Kyungsoo cannot protest because at that moment his body rebels against the mistreatment he has faced and he hurls right in the center of the divider connecting their guardians. Humiliated, miserable and defeated Kyungsoo is assisted through the ship.

 

The Caduceus is a modest guardian but has great capacity. It’s only ran by three men and a slightly older model. Kyungsoo prefers the older models. Despite their heavier weight they are much more sturdy in battles than the newer more agile models. Jongin does not remain by his side long when he parts with Minseok after  Chanyeol , the third pilot is told to take him to the infirmary. It’s needless to say Chanyeol does not let him get another word out before he’s escorted onto their ship where he is greeted by a sterile room and talkative doctor. “Take good care of him Baek!” Chanyeol is saying with a wide smile as he salutes before darting right back out of the door.

 

Who Chanyeol leaves him in the care of is just as irritating as the tall pilot. He’s a shorter man with bright  pink hair. His nose is round and small, his eyes uncommonly bright, and his smile too much for a man to face after he’s lost both his ship and good friends.

 

What was there to be happy about ?

 

“My name is Byun Baekhyun. I’m Zion’s resident doctor. We’ll be back at Zion in no time. Those guys before were a bunch of misfits. The tall one was Park Chanyeol - he smiles a lot, you’ll get use to it. The other was Kim Jongin, notorious for his high rank in flight school. And lastly, the infamous Kim Minseok. There are  plenty rumors running around about him but there is no denying he is brilliant.” Baekhyun speaks quickly as if he does not know the appropriate time to quit talking. 

 

The scan is quick and effective. It’s the only time that Baekhyun quits talking so he can go over the internal damage that might be done. After running the suit’s statistics he finds that nothing is majorly wrong with Kyungsoo besides slight head trauma and the deep gash on his side.

 

He goes back to talking right afterwards.

 

Kyungsoo’s suit is discarded in the corner of the room and he lays nude under a thin blanket on the table. Nakedness does not bother him as much as it should. After all, he lived in a ship with a few other men for most of his life. He is pressed on his side, arm tucked under his head, as he ignores the sting of the needling working in on the opposite side.

 

“Of course  everyone knows you. Do Kyungsoo, captain of the Warbird Galactica, single handedly responsible for the biggest innovations of the battle guardians this universe has seen! To think I am covered in a prestiged man's blood. This will certainly be something to tell the fellas back at Zion.”

 

Kyungsoo winces as he feels the needle press a little too hard in enthusiasm in his side. If only he could ask the doctor to kindly  shut up and focus on the work at hand. Instead he sighs, “How far are we from mothership?” He asked quietly.

 

“Hm, Zion is about half a cycle away from us. Why? Anxious to get back? A lover waiting at home for you?” Baekhyun is teasing him he realizes but Kyungsoo has always been a bit prickly about people invading on his privacy. 

 

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.” He says dully in return.

 

“Touché.” Baekhyun muses with a smile that never fades. Not even when Kyungsoo's displeasure is evident. “ I was listening to you and Jongin on the interface before. Thankfully, it's incredibly rare for you to permanently lose memories. There is a lot of scenarios in which your trauma could have played out. Would you like to hear my theories?”

 

“Do I have an actual choice?” Kyungsoo bites back bitterly wincing when Baekhyun dabs particularly hard with disinfectant on his newly stitched side.

 

“Well for starters, your experience might have been traumatic enough for you to block it out. Secondly, a head injury is often concurrent with short term memory loss. Both of which means your memories would be assessable after you figure out how to unlock them. Lastly, the rare chance you might have developed full amnesia - well, it's like this. Some people have phantom memories. Things that got jumbled in the process of your brain being this amazingly complex thing. You think something was real but in the end it's just your mind placing an old movie that skips.”

 

Kyungsoo lays there still for a long moment before he looks at the other, turning on his side tentatively. “I'm  not crazy. I know who my crew was. I doubt that I could imagine and fabricate all of those memories from nothing!”

 

“But the thing is I'm not saying you're crazy. There is a plausible explanation for most phenomenons. I want to help you.” Baekhyun insists with a small pat of his head which causes Kyungsoo to jerk backwards. “As an impartial bystander to help you keep perspective.”

 

“So you can  what ? See if I'm tricking myself into thinking my memories are real?” Kyungsoo asks.

 

“Exactly.” Baekhyun claps his hand. “That, and I want to be responsible for getting you back on the road to good physical and mental health. It would do wonders for my career to help out the original hotshot guardian pilot.” His smile is teasingly of course while Kyungsoo cannot help but roll his eyes.

 

A frivolous man , he thinks bitterly, to make light of his trials and tribulations . But naturally it was comforting Baekhyun did not look at him wearily as if Kyungsoo should be wearing a white padded outfit - probably only accountable to the fact Baekhyun’s personality pointed out  he might be the one who belonged in a nuthouse.

 

There is a light knock on the door and Kyungsoo slides up the thin bedsheet to cover his nearly nude body. When the door is pushed open Baekhyun stands giving a small but lazy bow as the commanding officer of the ship enters.  Minseok , Kyungsoo remembers. 

 

There is something about this Minseok. He was an vacuum sucking in any and all attention in a room despite the fact he was not the tallest or most handsome on the vessel. He had an underlying seriousness about him that intrigued Kyungsoo.

 

“I came to inform you we are hours from Zion. Do you need anything?” Minseok asks stiff as he walks around the hospital cot.

 

It’s an odd feeling to know he’s being observed. Baekhyun displayed curiosity. Whereas Minseok clearly was scrutinizing him. Kyungsoo honestly was anxious to return to his home. Most people were not born on military motherships but for those who resided on Zion it was no different than the large homestead communities in other galaxies. Of course, after he rested from his wounds and his body was back in prime condition his first goal was to find his missing crewmates. Somehow Kyungsoo refused to believe they would be dead. Without the proof before him he could not give up hope on them. After all, they would never do that to him.

 

“No.” Kyungsoo says back as he presses his face against the bend on his arm. He wanted to rest now so he would be alert once he got to Zion. But whatever medicine to fight off the possibility of infection Baekhyun had given him was making him slightly insomniac. Truthfully, it's making his head throb because his body has been pushed past the limits of his capability but he has somehow managed to endure this much.

 

It might he could endure much more,  correct ? Kyungsoo hopes this will be the end of his trials and tribulations. At this rate the veteran pilot is unsure how much more he can handle. The exhaustion must show on his face because the next thing the the says to him is, "Baekhyun why don't you give him something to rest while we are in flight?" Minseok's voice has a quiet authoritativeness to it. It's pleasant but also always on the cusp of a certain edge Kyungsoo cannot put in words. It makes him  weary  because the other may appear friendly but something lurked in him.

 

Kyungsoo realizes he only notices because they're alike in that manner. They're not like people  like Baekhyun or Chanyeol who omit optimism without reason. Minseok would be a dangerous foe but even more dangerous as a friend.

 

Naturally, it had not crossed his mind what might wait for him back at Zion. He's startled awake by the loud landing of the guardian on the mothership's docks. It shakes him awake, bleary eyed, and a low throbbing at the forefront of his skull. Baekhyun is in the corner of the lab flipping enthusiastically through a digital database, manipulating the 3D data with his hands, as he searches for whatever he is looking for through the blue transparent projection. His eyes dart over to Kyungsoo when the man rustles to a sitting position.

 

It seems he had slept the entire time undisturbed. He reaches for a glass of water at the cot's  bedside. "I was thinking, my friend." Baekhyun says and Kyungsoo is already quite aware he much rather  not hear whatever it is the other is about to spout out. "Would you want to do physical therapy with me? I could request you be assigned to my care. I think we could mutually benefit from working together."

 

Kyungsoo scrunches his brows. “I’m not some test subject. I want to focus on recovering and then get back to my job.”

 

Baekhyun presses his lips together as if he knows something the other does not but smiles faintly. “I have the highest recidivism rate for my patients, you know. Seeing that you lost your friends you have  no one anymore to be on your side. You should think about it.” And the eccentric doctor disappears behind the door as Kyungsoo stews in his words.

 

Alone . How could he forget?

  
 


	2. ii. suspension

Zion is just how he remembers it. The lingering smell of something uniquely industrial and  loud . Kyungsoo walks behind the men of the Caduceus who lug their equipment aboard the mothership. Greeting them are the white suited trainees who look surprised to see an addition to the Caduceus’ crew. They do not whisper or gossip as he pushes through the crowd but their eyes follow him and it’s enough to unnerve the experienced pilot. 

 

He has forgotten he was some sort of mini-celebrity on the ship. As soon as he turns the corner of the hanger their whispers start. At least they had the decency to wait, Kyungsoo thinks as he winces pushing forward. A skillful hand slaps him on the back and nearly has him jumping out of his skin. But it’s only Baekhyun with his positive disposition, “The hotshot has returned.” He hums, knowing full well his commentary isn’t wanted or needed.

 

But Kyungsoo finds he does not have the energy to fight Baekhyun so he allows it. However that does not stop him from shrugging off the other’s hand. “Shut up,” Kyungsoo murmurs and is abruptly cut off by Chanyeol’s voice in front of them,

 

“Kyungsoo, the elders would like to see you before you go rest in the infirmary. They want to get in your interview.  Do you need me to escort you?”

 

“No.” Kyungsoo’s response is almost immediate. 

 

Though this all feels like deja vu to the pilot, it’s different too. Instead of coming from his own ship with his own crew, he's being escorted. Truthfully, he's missed Zion a lot more than he could form with words -- but this trip  home is unsettling because he knows the difficulties which lie ahead of him. He'll have to explain what little he remembers to the elders, focus on physical therapy to regain his full strength, and find out what has happened to his friends. It seems daunting for a man with a slight limp in his walk who has finally returned home after months to find things aren't the same.

 

He pushes away from the others and makes a beeline for the council of elders who run Zion. Kyungsoo has been there many times before - only then, it would be to accept jobs from them or receive awards. Has ever a surviving captain of a guardian had to explain why  he was here and not his crew?

 

He's only accompanied by the sound of his boots clicking against the metal floors of the hanger as he makes a sharp turn from the people he had come with. He is grateful for their help (sans Baekhyun) and wishes to proceed alone. In his heart, he feels there is something wrong about this entire situation. He isn't sure who he might be able to trust, elders included.

 

He pushes open the heavy doors of the council room. Before him is a handful of greying men sitting whose chatter dulls out when Kyungsoo bows entertaining the room. Perhaps it's paranoia or his mind being muddy from his injury, but he cannot help but feel he's caught in on a web with peering eyes.

 

“I was called?” Kyungsoo clears his throat, fingers going to his side where his injury is. It no longer hurts, nearly healed with the advanced technology of outer space, but it doesn't stop the phantom pains from aching. 

 

“Please sit,” the head elder speaks, gesturing for Kyungsoo to join them at the table.  

 

Kyungsoo swallows, but finds himself sitting. “I feel as though I am going to be a disappointment, sir. I only remember  why we were out in that galaxy. I do not remember much else.”

 

“Start from where you remember,” the elder says, a soft smile etching his aged face.

 

Kyungsoo thinks back, “Months ago I was tasked with transporting materials and resources from a raw planetary object. My crew and I headed out on the evening of receiving the job.” He pauses,  navigating his memories, as he wets his tongue. “Nothing out of the ordinary happened. I remember up until a few weeks after leaving Zion with the mission. We were days away from the planet. The last I recall, I was rebooting the engine with pilot Han helping me.” And it stops - no more memories, all blank space where he could not recall where he had been or what he had done. “I don't remember anything else. I woke up moments before Captain Minseok called. My ship was destroyed and my crew missing. The damages were consistent with another guardian attack-- but sir,  who could have taken down one of the most experienced guardian crews out there?”

 

The head elder’s lips are tight as the men listen allowing the information to sink in. He finally speaks after a long moment, “That is what we'd like to find out. We'd advise you to utilize therapy to see if it can help you recover your memories. We will assign you to a tough regimen of therapy for both your body and your mind, Do Kyungsoo. As for your crew, we've looked all through the wreckage and no one was found. We've concluded through a thorough investigation that there is a very unlikely chance they’ve survived the damage of the ship.”

 

Despite it being something Kyungsoo expected, it still felt like a kick to the stomach. He managed to stay upright and endure the blow to his heart, expression turning grim. Even  if what they said was true, didn’t they owe it to them to investigate? But even Kyungsoo knows when the elder council has decided something, it would be social suicide to question them directly. He finds himself nodding and bowing lowly - excusing himself to grieve, as any captain would in a situation like this.

 

When he leaves the room and is away from their peering eyes, his hand reaches to his head to hold it. As if that would stop the spinning. His mouth is dry and his heart hammering. Just hours ago his life had been fine, but now it was only in shambles and made absolutely no sense. How does one go from a successful career with a talented crew and a famous guardian to nothing? Did  any of this make sense?

 

“Do Kyungsoo?” It’s an unknown voice. Kyungsoo looks up not realizing that he had slumped against the wall, head in his hands until he looks up. There is a man he has never seen before in his life. 

 

Tall, elegant, and young. His face is drawn hard in the gaudy makeup popular to motherships not like Zion, for everything was rigid on military vessels. His outfit was plain, white, and tiny feathers sticking from his dyed platinum hair. Kyungsoo’s eyes drifted over him in confusion. What was someone like this doing on a military ship?

 

“I’m Sehun. I am from Acacia,” he says with a slight bow.

 

It made sense if he was born on the mothership Acacia - it was one of the most frivolous ships out there that focused solely on catering to the most wealthy in this galaxy. Many from Zion held deep founded prejudices against their sister ship which lived off of  their labors, but could not complain because Acacia founded nearly  all of their projects. “My brother was Luhan. I would like to talk to you. More privately.”

 

Kyungsoo’s brow tilted but he nodded. It seems surreal that Luhan would have had a brother and not mentioned it to Kyungsoo. It was a rarity for families to be together during these times of mandatory fertilization and controlled births. Truthfully, Kyungsoo had never met his parents and most likely never would - much less a sibling.

 

Sehun nods and gestures for Kyungsoo to follow. Kyungsoo pushes himself off the wall and goes forward. Sehun has the type of walk that is at ease and self confident. But also it verges on haughty. He’s an exquisite man. Clearly beautiful in a sharp and harsh way that could only hail from a place like Acacia.

 

They’re lead to a place with a heavily perfumed bunker with only one cot neatly folded up in the corner. Sehun turns promptly, eyes hard suddenly -- his makeup making his face appear almost severe. “They killed my brother and now they’re covering it up,” Sehun says throatily. “Everything - the stories they tell you, the evidence they conjured up,  everything \- it is all lies.”

 

Of course he’s genuinely surprised by the outburst. But it does not ease his discomfort that he is the only one who thinks this but rather makes him  more suspicious. “Excuse me?” he asks a second later, trying to clarify what he has heard.

 

“Are you deaf or dumb?” he demands a second later. This man is harsh and blunt - not a type Kyungsoo is accustomed to. “You were  on that ship. You have to know something odd is going up here.” He says, eyes narrowing. “Let me guess: you don't remember anything and they're not telling you much?”

 

“How did you know?” Kyungsoo stammers genuinely caught off guard.

 

“Let's just say I have my ways of finding things out. Kyungsoo, you must know you're not safe here. One false step and you're going to be rid of. Whatever they're hiding - it's enough to hide my brother’s death, to lie to us all, and manipulate your memories.”

 

“But  how do you know there was foul play?” Kyungsoo has been going on a hunch this entire time but it would be completely different if there was actual substance to prove his theories might be true.

 

“I hacked into the database.” Sehun admits. “All files are deleted on your assignment. Normally, it would just be as if it never existed but there is just a big gaping hole in the middle of the fucking files like someone messily deleted it. My brother and the rest of your crew members never existed.”

 

“But… people remember them.  You  remember them. They can't just make it as if they never existed,” Kyungsoo says, head spinning again. 

 

Sehun smiles tightly. “They've already done so.”

 

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Kyungsoo murmurs.

 

“No it doesn’t.” Sehun replies sharply, leaning in towards Kyungsoo’s space with a toothy smile. “But I believe you and I are allies. We have the same enemy.”

 

It’s hard to wrap his mind around the fact his enemy was the same group of people he had always depended upon for protection and to look out for his crew. The betrayal is festering and raw, jagged and red around the edges, filling Kyungsoo with venom. “So what do we do?” Kyungsoo asks quietly, voice weak.

 

“I thought you’d  never ask.” Sehun smirks.

 


End file.
